Forget the gym: These student fitness Instagrammers shared their best uni room workouts
The affordable gainz are real
I can already sense your good intentions through the screen – you’ve thought about joining the uni gym or renewing your membership, and right now, the thought of having your dream rig is far outweighing the reality of parting with your precious pennies.
But I’m here to save you from coming to the crushing realisation that signing up for the gym was the biggest waste of money. You went twice in freshers, once again when you decided ‘you were going to get fit’, and that other time you turned up but had forgotten your trainers so went home and watched reruns of Come Dine With Me instead.
Exercise is obviously important, but forking out half your loan on a membership isn’t. So, to strike the perfect balance, these fitness Instagrammers shared with us their favourite ways to get a solid workout in at home, using affordable products from Decathlon.
Maddie, third year, Birmingham, 11.3k followers
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For a student who can’t really afford the gym, what would you recommend as the best way to work out?
It really depends on your goals. If it’s general fitness, I’d say run or do lots of cardio-based, plyometrics stuff like jumping, and things that keep your heart rate up, such as intervals or sprints.
If your goal is to build muscle, you do need to make it progressively harder, whether that’s adding weight or more reps. Without any progression, you’re not going to see the results you want, which is where the gym comes into play. So if you’re at home, sets of dumbbells – especially the adjustable ones – are great because you can mix up the weights and therefore decrease the difficulty of your workout.
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What would you say are the most essential pieces of gym equipment to do an effective home workout?
Obviously an exercise or yoga mat is a good thing to have. I’d say an exercise ball, I use them quite a lot because they’re so versatile. I’d also suggest weighted things are probably more beneficial to you if you’re looking to bulk, like dumbbells.
If you don’t have stairs at home to use as a step, I’d get one of those step boxes as well, due to the wide range of exercises you can do on them.
All of these items are available at Decathlon:
The workout:
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The circuit:
- – Banded Glute Bridges x5 straight into Banded Glute Bridge Abductors x5
- – Shoulder Taps x4 straight into Plank Rows x4 (switch arms each round)
- – Jump Lunges
- – Army Plank and Mountain Climber combo
- – Up-Down Squats x2 straight into Goblet Squats x5
Perform each move for 30-45 seconds, with a 30-45 second rest in between each exercise, depending on how you’re feeling. Repeat the circuit 4 times.
Get the essential equipment at Decathlon:
Frankie, grad, Birmingham, 25.3k followers
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What do you find is the best way to motivate yourself to work out?
Incorporating weight training into my programme really pushes me to work out. I’m a newly qualified doctor, so after a long day at work, the last thing I’d want to do is go to the gym – so the thought of doing a run or a spin class would mean I just wouldn’t go. However, with resistance training, you can tell yourself, “Oh, just go a little bit lighter today,” which is way more appealing than getting out of breath and sweaty.
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What equipment should students have at home to make sure they get a solid workout?
Definitely pick up some resistance bands, a skipping rope and then maybe a couple of kettlebells. I find they are really effective pieces of equipment, because they can double as the dumbbells – so, for example, you can press a kettlebell above your head, just like you can a dumbbell, but you can also do things like kettlebell swings.
All of these items are available at Decathlon:
The workout:
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The circuit:
- – Lunges with Overhead Stretch
- – Squat Jumps
- – Plank Walkouts with Press Up and 180 Jump
- – Glute Bridges
- – Burpees
- – Tempo Squat (3 seconds slowly lowering down, 1 second driving up)
- – Spiderman Push Ups (or regular Push Ups)
For each exercise, do as many reps as you can for 30 seconds, with a 30-second rest afterwards. Then move onto the next exercise and repeat 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off. Repeat the entire HIIT circuit as many times as you can within 20-25 minutes.
Get the essential equipment at Decathlon: